His remarks were highlighted in the announcement of the company’s largest ever single-day heavy equipment and trucks auction, selling more than AU$52 million (more than US$54 million). The auction took place yesterday in Brisbane, Australia.

The new record set yesterday in Brisbane surpassed the company’s previous record by more than US$20 million, which had been set in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2006. More than 1,000 heavy equipment items were featured in yesterday’s auction, including hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, rock trucks, prime movers, telescopic forklifts, trailers and more.

One company, Fuel Trans, a liquid transport firm, sold more than 40 transportation and heavy equipment items in the auction, including a large selection of late-model fuel tankers and prime movers.

Fuel Trans was joined by more than 140 other sellers—which Ritchie calls an unprecedented number of sellers at a Ritchie Bros. Australian auction. The Brisbane auction attracted more than 1,600 on-site and online bidders from nearly every continent (33 countries). More than AU$24 million (more than US$26 million) or 47 percent of total gross auction proceeds was generated by buyers from outside the state of Queensland; while more than AU$50 million (more than US$52 million) or 96 percent of total gross auction proceeds was generated by Australian buyers.

Additional auction highlights include an unused 2011 Caterpillar D9T crawler tractor, which sold for AU$1.02 million (US$1.07 million) to a buyer from the Australian state of New South Wales; two unused 2011 Caterpillar 980H wheel loaders, which sold for AU$540,000 (more than US$566,000) each to two separate buyers from Western Australia; and four 2007 Marshall Lethlean fuel tank trailers, which sold for AU$255,000 (more than US$267,000) each to a local Queensland buyer.